Our mission

Are you that special person who - weary from trudging the endless superhighways - just longs to camp next to a glorious oasis of the mind? Do you desire to explore new frontiers, splash in shared ideas, fill your belly with the refreshing fruits of inspiration, and bask in the gentle rays of fond reflection?

Well, you can fuck right off. This, my friends, is not that place. This place is... The ShadowLands.

Monday, July 13, 2009

John Butler of the John Butler Trio once described the music chosen by listeners to Australia's compulsory pay youth radio station as being "a suitable music selection for StormFront Youth."

Now Triple J has unveiled its listeners selections of the Top 100 songs of all time, and they have not let us down.

Out of the top 100 songs of all time chosen by listeners, there are only two songs with female lead vocalists who made the grade. This has been the subject of some polite debate over at the ABC.

However, they are far too polite to mention that there also appear to be only two/maybe three black artists (Stevie Wonder at 95, Bob Marley at 84 and, arguably, Michael Jackson at 26 and 41).

Thus, according to Triple J listeners, 94 of the top 100 songs were all produced by white males. (Being a suicide, by the way, appears to be a big factor if you are really keen to get into the top 10.)

Another notable aspect of the list is that very few of the selections are songs that Triple J would actually play - in fact, very few were produced this decade. All of which begs the question, why is the public funding a radio station that plays music no one wants to listen to?

Note: John Butler of the John Butler Trio would like to thank everybody who voted him into #47.

The Top 100 is soooo Casey Kasem and American Top 40 - a show that started in 1970. I used to listen to Casey as a kid, and when JJJ brought out the Top 100, I thought it was a poor derivative of an idea that died a decade before.

The Top 40 was mega-important in 1977. But so were bell-bottom jeans and arguments over LP vs cassette. The whole idea of a "top this" and "top that" is so last century.

"...so little interesting has been produced in the meantime."That just about sums it up. Since around 1980 anyway. There is a lot of other music out there too, you know? Pop and its satellites ( hip and hop) are not the known universe.